Flats Full of Cats Review

A New Building in a Very Established Neighborhood

Flats Full of Cats launched on Steam as a free-to-play entry on August 3, 2026, from Devcats, the studio behind a long-running string of "Full of Cats" hidden object games including A Building Full of Cats, An Arcade Full of Cats, and A Shelter Full of Cats. Across 202 English-language reviews, 97% positive, the reception reads as warmly loyal: most reviewers are returning fans who already know exactly what they're getting and are happy to get more of it. The premise here is a multi-storey apartment building where each floor houses three themed flats, a police officer's, a paleontologist's, and a scientist's, and the free base game hands players the first floor outright, with additional floors sold separately as low-cost DLC. That structure, more than any single mechanic, is what defines both the praise and the pushback running through the review pool.

Nine Rooms, Three Modes, One Very Familiar Loop

The gameplay itself is squarely within the series' established formula: each flat contains three rooms, and each room hides a mix of regular cats, harder-to-spot "hidden" cats triggered by clicking specific objects, and a themed collectible item unique to that space. Reviewers consistently describe finishing the free base floor in roughly one to two hours, and several note that 100% completion, achievements included, is fully possible without ever touching the paid DLC. Multiple reviewers specifically praise Devcats for keeping every achievement tied to the free content rather than gating any of them behind purchases, calling it a rare and welcome bit of goodwill in a genre that could easily lock progress behind payment. Beyond the story-driven Normal mode, an Expert mode swaps in smaller, more minimalist cat designs that several reviewers say demand real attention rather than a quick scan, and a Time Attack mode randomizes cat placement into a timed run for players chasing leaderboard bragging rights. One reviewer breaks the structure down precisely: nine unique room layouts recur across the floors with different cats and objects each time, meaning the two paid floors examined effectively double the same core spaces rather than introducing wholly new environments.

A Franchise Entry That Divides Its Own Fanbase

Where the review pool gets genuinely interesting is in how differently longtime series fans read that familiarity. The large majority treat the consistency as comfort food, several reviewers explicitly saying they buy every Devcats release day one regardless of what it changes, and praising the hand-drawn art, calming music, and pop-culture easter eggs (multiple reviewers call out spotting a Pickle Rick reference) as proof the studio's craft hasn't slipped. But the single most detailed negative review in the pool, a long-form comparison against nearly every prior Devcats title, argues the opposite: that Flats Full of Cats strips out the light dialogue, character introductions, and bookending story beats that made earlier entries like A Building Full of Cats and A Shelter Full of Cats feel purposeful, leaving a game that is visually polished but emotionally hollow by the series' own standard. That same review and a couple of shorter ones also flag that achievement names read as generic and disconnected from the rooms they reward, unlocking cosmetic letters for a profile showcase rather than anything tied to the game's content. A separate, more measured critical angle shows up repeatedly in otherwise-positive reviews: none of the paid DLC floors carry their own achievements, which more than one reviewer says feels like an odd omission given how much of the series' appeal rests on completionist chasing.

Small Frictions Around a Genuinely Relaxing Core

Beyond the tonal debate, the specific complaints scattered across the review pool are minor but recurring. Several reviewers note the hint system only zooms the camera toward a general area rather than pointing at the exact hidden cat, which a couple found appropriately balanced and others found frustrating on a cooldown timer. More than one reviewer wanted a clearer in-game tracker showing which rooms and modes they'd already completed across floors, especially once multiple DLC packs are owned, since backing out of a level without warning currently forces a restart. A couple of reviewers also asked for a mouse sensitivity option and noted an early bug where Time Attack mode ran incorrectly on purchased DLC floors, though that same reviewer confirmed it had since been patched. None of these complaints rise to dealbreaker status in any review that raises them; they read as a wish list from people who are already recommending the game rather than reasons to skip it. The bigger throughline, mentioned by a wide range of reviewers regardless of how many DLC floors they'd bought, is that the free portion genuinely stands on its own: a complete, achievement-eligible experience with no artificial cutoff designed to push a sale.

Verdict

Flats Full of Cats doesn't try to reinvent what Devcats has been building for years, and reviewers are split on whether that's a comfort or a disappointment, but as a free hidden object game it's an easy recommendation on value alone: a full, achievement-complete floor at no cost, with charming hand-drawn apartments, a legitimately harder Expert mode, and reasonably priced DLC floors for anyone who wants more. It's a lesser entry by the series' own high bar for storytelling and personality, missing the dialogue and character beats that made earlier Devcats games memorable, but the core cat-finding loop it inherited is still relaxing, well-crafted, and worth an afternoon regardless of whether you ever open your wallet for the rest of the building.